By Hafizur Rahman, Cox’s Bazar, August 26, 2025
Bangladesh’s interim leader and Nobel Peace laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus has called on the international community to act urgently to secure justice, accountability, and the safe repatriation of the Rohingya.
Speaking at the three-day international conference “Stakeholders’ Dialogue: Takeaways to the High-Level Conference on Rohingya Situation”, Yunus warned that Bangladesh can no longer bear the burden alone of hosting over 1.3 million Rohingya refugees, the largest such population in the world.
“The umbilical relationship of Rohingyas with their homeland cannot be severed. Their rights to return to Rakhine must be secured. We urge all partners to chart a practical roadmap for their safe, dignified, voluntary, and sustainable return as soon as possible,” he said.
Seven-Point Proposal for a Way Forward
In his keynote address, Yunus presented a seven-point proposal:
- Securing the Rohingyas’ right of return to Myanmar.
- Sustained donor support to maintain life-saving humanitarian programmes.
- Immediate cessation of violence and protection of displaced Rohingyas.
- Establishing platforms for dialogue to reduce ethnic tensions within Myanmar.
- Stronger regional and international engagement, particularly from ASEAN.
- A firm international stance against ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.
- Strengthening global accountability through the ICJ, ICC, and other mechanisms.
Remembrance and Global Responsibility
The event coincided with the eighth Rohingya Genocide Remembrance Day, recalling the atrocities of August 2017 when nearly 800,000 Rohingyas fled Myanmar in a wave of violence described by the UN as genocide. Survivors continue to face precarious conditions in Bangladesh’s overcrowded camps, where fresh arrivals still reach the border almost daily.
Yunus reminded participants of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ recent visit to Cox’s Bazar, where Rohingya refugees reiterated their only demand: the right to return home in dignity and safety.
Conference and Participation
The conference began with a one-minute silence and the screening of a documentary on the persecution of Rohingyas.
Khalilur Rahman, National Security Adviser and High Representative for the Rohingya issue, delivered the welcome address, while Disaster Management and Relief Adviser Faruk E Azam and UNHCR Assistant High Commissioner Raouf Mazou also spoke.
Diplomats, international experts, Rohingya representatives, academics, global organizations, and Bangladeshi political leaders from BNP, Jamaat-e-Islami, and the National Citizen Party (NCP) joined the dialogue.
Justice Beyond Survival
Rights groups have repeatedly warned that aid cuts are pushing refugees deeper into crisis. For many in the camps, survival itself is at risk — but Yunus stressed that survival is not enough.
He called for justice, citizenship, and an end to impunity for the atrocities committed against the Rohingya-
“Without justice, there can be no peace. Without a roadmap, there can be no future.”
The Cox’s Bazar dialogue is intended to feed into the upcoming UN high-level conference in New York on September 30, where Bangladesh hopes to mobilize stronger international action and long-delayed accountability.
